Once Human is a big hit at Steam Next Fest, but wishlists are a drop in the bucket

NetEase's upcoming third-person shooter, Once Human, boasts over 15 million global pre-registrations, a significant achievement highlighted by its Steam Next Fest success. However, a closer look reveals a key difference between its mobile and PC performance.

While pre-registrations are impressive, only 300,000 translate to Steam wishlists. This disparity highlights the challenges of achieving comparable discoverability on PC compared to mobile, especially for a developer like NetEase with a strong mobile presence. Despite this, Once Human remains incredibly popular on Steam, attracting the largest demo player base during Steam Next Fest.

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NetEase's PC-focused approach for Once Human isn't inherently flawed, but the numbers underscore the considerable difference in audience reach and discoverability between PC and mobile gaming platforms. Even a major developer faces significant hurdles in replicating mobile success on PC.

While waiting for Once Human's release, consider exploring our curated lists of the best and most anticipated mobile games of 2024. These lists offer hand-picked selections of top-tier mobile gaming experiences.